Pupils at Kasiisi Primary School prepare cow dung for the biogas digester.
This week we have been doing a bit of work with Kasiisi Primary School near Kibale Forest. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the children. They are just so enthusiastic to learn and are a pleasure to be around. Our main aims at the school were to get some footage of the porridge project in action, see how the XO laptops are settling in and look at the new biogas digester which is an intriguing new project. The latter enables the school to create energy by using human waste and turning it into a gas. This was a fascinating project to learn about but did involve filming a few of the students shovelling some of the waste into a sort of pit and mixing it with water. Let’s just say getting footage of the porridge being made was a far cleaner experience. I really enjoyed sitting with the children and looking at how they use the laptops which have been provided by OLPC. It’s good to know that they are benefiting from access to modern technology just like children in the UK and can use this opportunity to further their education and careers. I only wish this could be available to children all over the world. We also travelled to the farm that is being run by the Kasiisi project. Again, it was really good to see the kids getting involved, learning about conservation and working to make a difference in their community.
This morning we went on a walk around the crater lake that we can see from our campsite that we are currently staying at in Kibale Forest. It was a delightful morning and it was a nice change to leave the safety of the truck and explore the community. Local guide James showed us all the tea plantations and how the workers harvest them which was extremely interesting. I was fascinated by their way of life, working in the fields day to day to make a living. We were then joined by many small and excitable children on our walk around the lakeside. All they wanted to do was to take photos with our cameras and have their photos taken which, of course, I was more than happy to do. We were also lucky enough to see the occasional baboon, colobus and red-tailed monkey.
I have loved getting actively involved with local communities during the last week. The people are so unbelievably welcoming and friendly and it is so rewarding to be doing something that they can get involved in and that will in fact benefit them. I think this is one of the reasons I chose to come on this expedition and it makes me so happy to be taking part in such an experience.
